right now, our nbc news poll showing interest in the midterms is sky high with 15 days to go, but the divisions between the two parties are deeper than ever. steve kornacki will be breaking it all down for us. we'll put the spotlight on critical governors races in

florida and texas where two controversial incumbents are leading in the polls. great britain has a new prime minister again. after boris johnson failed to meet the threshold to run for a comeback. despite rushing back from the caribbean vacation. i'll talk to brittney griner's russian lawyer on the eve of greiner's appeal of her nine-year prison sentence. good day. our poll reveals democrats are fired up, but republicans are even more enthusiastic about their efforts to take over the house and senate. joining me now, steve kornacki, our research partner, "washington post" political correspondent, ashley parker.

there is so much to dig through here. let's start by where likely voters are leaning with two weeks to go. >> two weeks, one day, and early voting underway in a number of places. here you can see the generic ballot. this is among likely voters here in our new poll. 48% for the republicans. 47% for the democrats. a one-point advantage there for republicans. so obviously competitive, but i think significantly when you start to dig inside the numbers a little here, you mentioned this in your opening there. it's that question of enthusiasm. a couple of ways of looking at this. first of all, this is overall. this is all voters. seven out of ten put themselves basically in the highest level of interest when it comes to the midterm elections. it's not quite evenly distributed between the two parties though. look, you see it's nearly eight out of ten republicans who put themselves in that top level of interest. it's only about seven of ten democrats. so high numbers for both party,

but there's a gap there. an enthusiasm gap of nine points in the republicans advantage and i think it's more striking when you look at the trend. because this is something we've been tracking throughout the year. this is last month. this is august. this is the same question. there wasn't last month. there wasn't in august a big difference between the two parties when it came to enthusiasm. two points. it was three points. now it's nine points. remember, over the summer, democrats in the wake of the supreme court ruling that overturned roe versus wade, a couple of other things that were in the news, too, really seemed to level the playing field in terms of enthusiasm. now two weeks plus out, republicans with a nine-point edge there on enthusiasm. also working against democrats is just the state of the economy. exception of joe biden's handling of the economy. under 40% approval.

it's the expectation. 40% believe it's going to get worse. there's been a cloud of economic pessimism hanging over this election. there's republicans needing a small pick up to take over the house. there's also the question of the senate here. the polling averages in the senate battlegrounds right now. these are seats democrats are trying to defend. there's one in nevada where republicans lead slightly, but lead in the poll average. two more here, georgia and arizona, where republicans have drawn closer. you look on the other side, democrats trying to off set gains in republican seats. there's one republican-held seat in pennsylvania where democrats lead the average. democrats getting very nervous there with fetterman. he and mehmet oz going to debate tomorrow night. that could be significant. you look at these other races

here where democrats are trying to pick off republican-held seats. there's been a little movement in republican direction over the last ten days in a lot of these races. that's sort of the state of play here. it's close, but underlying that are some indications that things may be moving a bit in the republicans direction at this .15 days out. >> steve kornacki, you've set the table. and jeff, you had a great note to us summarizing this poll. your poll. you're half of our polling team. with the polar saiks of the country, saying voters are no longer looking for a contract with america. they want a divorce. expand on that. >> yeah, the poll over the past decade going back to 2010 and there are a number of data points in this poll. one of the widest gap in job

rating for a president's party for president biden versus the opponent's party. widest we've ever documented there. there's a real disgust with the stat quo. that in normal times would portend to be a bad result potentially for democrats, but this election and i think going back to january, we did see that as a possible outcome, but if you told me in january when on the interest question that steve talked about, there's a 14-point gap in interest, that has been closed. if you told me that and the democrats would have a fighting chance not given all the change in numbers, i think we'd take that. the polarization point, the one thing that struck us in the poll is that yes, that there's having president biden in the mid 40s is not a good place for democrats to be, but when you ask voters if they agree with the proposals and joe biden

wants to take the country and democrats compared to donald trump and republicans, then in fact voters prefer the course that the democrats and joe biden over trump and republicans. so that's what i think it's less about a contract with america now and really that america is looking more for a divorce and to really, they do want change. >> jeff, what we know and what steve said is the enthusiasm gap has widened to nine points and that's a a big change from previous months. is that all inflation? >> i think you know, what's going on i think is that this is you know, the first thing i would say is leaving aside heads of state in the uk, two weeks is an eternity in politics and that has really turned into -- normally, we have to talk about a wave of elections and this is really a waves election. right now, i think some of those issues that republicans are talking about may be more before particularly for their base and

motivation. i think that's what you're seeing here. but on the issue agenda, i think one thing that is really important, abortion to democracy has not faded away. in fact, when we put the two buckets of what democrats and republicans are talking about, abortion and addressing the cost of living by tax incorporations and fair share versus republicans talking about immigration and crime and cutting government spending to address cost of living, that in fact on that, the democrats have a two-point advantage on sort of that issue that carries the day. that's something we'll be watching over the next two weeks. i think there's a case you'll see in the closing arguments that democrats will be talking more about the economy, the accomplishments they've made and where we need to go from here. >> ashley, you've been drilling down on this with your reporting and interesting, it's what nancy

pelosi was, the point she was making to me last week. they don't believe the polls, she doesn't, and that abortion is still a driving issue among democratic voters. republicans are saying they think crime is working. but in your piece, you've looked at several inflection points looking back over the first two years of the president's midterm posture. you looked at the july fourth declaration of victory over covid. declaration that the medical advisers were saying was premature, then of course, the withdrawal from afghanistan where he said you're not going to see helicopters coming off the roofs like vietnam then you saw helicopters coming off the embassy of the roof then he blamed the intelligence committee for that. then you know, i guess the third thing is the intraparty battles

over build back better that took the whole summer. which took away, i guess taking away as you point out, from all of their many, many accomplishments. >> as we wrote in this piece which was deeply reported, we talked to 80 people from cabinet officials to senior white house officials to former senior white house officials. into his presidency so far and it really is one of remarkable achievement and crushing disappointment. and that's kind of what we chronicle. if you look especially recently, the president has accomplished tremendous things legislatively. climate change, prescription drugs, bipartisan guns bill, infrastructure, covid relief. a lot of these things have been on democratic wish lists not just for years, but decades. but at the same time, as we always write there are these inflection points and throughout his presidency, there have been moments where again, some of

this stuff was very much out of the president and the white house's control. they can't control new coronavirus variants. they could in the predict that russia would invade ukraine and that would exacerbate problems. but one area they struggled was managing expectations. whether it was calling inflation transitory, which of course it wasn't. or as you pointed out, a real turning point was last august with the afghanistan withdrawal, nobody believed, no one on any side, that withdrawing from a 20-year losing war would be easy but when the president says this isn't going to be like saigon. this isn't going to be like vietnam. there aren't going to be people clinging to helicopters and then those are the images we see, that very much hurt his credibility in the way he presented himself as sort of the anti-trump. stable, competent, steady, no drama. those were some of the sort of self-inflicted wounds that have marred parts of his presidency.

>> lisa, i want to talk to you about a focus group you're with in pennsylvania because we focus so much on pennsylvania. we're going there tomorrow. i was there last week. let's talk about what voters are saying about january 6th and the insurrection because doug mastriano was marching with the protestors and is an election denier. >> yes, andrea. when we spoke to groups from across the electorate, bucs county swing voters and pittsburgh swipg women voters then pittsburgh trump voters. and the pittsburgh trump voters in particular weren't fazed by january 6th and gave a variety of reasons that it had been in their view, erroneously reported in the media, which is not exactly the reality we saw on our television screens that day.

>> he was photographed breaching one of the areas. is that okay? >> which area because i saw video where capitol officers were taking away barriers. >> so it shouldn't be disqualifying for an elected official if they participated in january 6th. >> he didn't strike anybody. >> the only one that died was a to tester there. >> unarmed female veteran. the only one who died. >> a police officer did die. >> that's heart attack. >> that's not onsite. >> so what do you make though overall of january 6th? in that footage, it was pretty disturbing. there were people throwing excrement at the walls. it's the capitol. >> it looked a lot like antifa's action to me. >> except for a much smaller

scale, like a black lives matter rally. >> that's what i saw the similarities. >> kenosha. >> it's okay just because one side you disagree with? >> no, i'm saying antifa infiltrated. >> anybody who harms anybody, anybody who caused property destruction, that needs to be dealt with. but if you're there making your voice heard, that's again, a fundamental constitutional right of an american citizen and people should not be being held political prisoner because of it. >> for misdemeanors. that's east germany. tactics. >> that's what's scary. >> it was an actually, but mostly peaceful protest. >> was the protest legitimate in your eyes because -- >> the administration i feel like is using it as their claw fire. that's exactly what they're using it as. >> an andrea, that description

completely contrasts with what he heard from the female swing voters who were pretty horrified over what happened that day. i think that jeff hopefully would agree that his poll reflects as in his poll, the polarization we're seeing in the electorate this cycle. >> just striking. extraordinary. and all that tag about nazi comparisons wrings to mind the anti-semitism that is ripe in the republican governor's race. he had hired this, the guy behind gab, one of the most antisemitic, toxic websites in the country and most recently, the tirades by kanye west which led to this sign just in the last couple of days. over the 405. which now could mean, tweeted again saying potus ran to heal the soul of the nation after years of hate and division as part of a healing, we need to

call out antisemitism everywhere it rears its ugly head. these actions in l.a. are disgusting and should be condemns. in the pennsylvania race, mastriano, one of his top aides criticizing his opponent, the democratic lieutenant governor for being quote, a secular jew, whatever the heck that means. >> well, of course the one thing you didn't mention, but that looms large is former president trump's recent statement he put out. about jews in america and sort of this antisemitic trope of questioning their loyalty to the united states and saying they might have dual loyalty with israel and he needs to thank him for all the work he's done before it's too late. and again, when you see this sort of antisemitism in different parts of the country, you have to go back to where it starts and that starts in many ways with a permission structure

that former president trump created where he did engage in these sorts of tropes and where when there were groups known for white nationalism, racism, antisemitism, far from sort of issuing the type of statement that the current white house press secretary issued, he gave a wink and a nod, there's many examples, but when he told the proud boys to stand by and stand back. >> i was just thinking about that. that was of course in the debate one of the debates. steve kornacki, thanks to him and to jeff on our poll. ashley parker, elise jordan for all your reporting. it was a great piece over the weekend. and we have a lot more on the pennsylvania races tomorrow and wednesday with special two-hour editions of "andrea mitchell reports." we'll be live from pittsburgh starting tomorrow at 11:00 eastern and noon only on msnbc. first, making history. the man poised to become great

britain's first non-white prime minister. can he calm the economic turmoil and reassure allies? you're watching "andrea mitchell reports." this is msnbc. watching "andreal reports. this is msnbc. those who do get t bad, it may be because they have a high-risk factor. such as heart disease, diabetes, being overweight, asthma, or smoking. even if symptoms feel mild, these factors can increase your risk of covid-19 turning severe. so, if you're at high risk and test positive, don't wait. ask your healthcare provider right away if an authorized oral treatment is right for you.

britain the getting a new prime minister. former finance minister will be the first person of color ever to hold that position. at age 42, the youngest in two

centuries. sunak speaking just moments ago. >> i am humbled and honored to have the support of my parliamentary colleagues and to be elected as leader of the conservative and unionist party. it is the greatest privilege of my life to be able to serve the party i love and give back to the country i owe so much to. >> sunak was beating out boris johnson rushed back from a caribbean vacation to run again, but failed to get enough party support to compete. he replaces liz truss who was forced out after only 45 days in office after her trickle down economic plan led to a total collapse of the financial turmoil. joining me now is nbc's molly hunter from downing street and mark bland, london bureau chief for the "new york times." he's been writing such brilliant

analysis stories on these historic changes. molly, so what happens next? sunak has to meet king charles? do we know when that's going to happen? >> the next 24 hours are going to be equally busy. for him to become prime minister is that liz truss will have to go to king charles to buckingham palace and we assume that will happen in the next 24 hours. we know king charles is heading back to london this afternoon and she will give him her resignation. then sunak will meet with king charles and be asked to form a government. then we're off to the races. at this point, we'll start to learn who his cabinet ministers are. of course part of the turmoil here is that when governments change so quickly, the third prime minister this year, the fifth conservative prime minister in six year, there's some political paralysis.

government stops. new ministers go into positions. we'll have to get up to speed. we'll be watching two of those very, very carefully. ben wallace, the defense minister, and jeremy hunt, the finance minister. both of those jobs, very busy. of course with the war in ukraine and britain facing a serious economic crisis. so both those will be seeing if both men keep those jobs in the sunak government or if they get turnover. this will happen in the next 24 hours and sunak will walk into 10 downing probably by tomorrow. >> it's just extraordinary. what kind of leader do we expect him to be and i would assume there could be some issues with jeremy hunt. he was a foreign secretary. very well liked around the world, but had no experience on the economy and was rushed in to provide some stability at the last moment because of his experience. would he stay in the cabinet in some other role?

rishi sunak might be the exchequer given his expertise. >> sunak held a chancellor's job. in fact, his claim to you know, his claim to fame as a leader is that he saw britain through the very difficult period of the coronavirus pandemic. he was the official who sort of rolled out hundreds of billions of pounds of subsidies and more recently, some of the recent tax increases and other things that we're anticipating, the more difficult period britain has entered now. there is some expectation he might retain hunt in this job and that might make sense because the chancellor is going to have a rough ride over the next 18 months or so and politically, it might make good sense for rishi sunak to let jeremy hunt absorb some of these

difficult choices the government's going to have to make. ben wallace has been successful as defense secretary and even though he supported boris johnson in the leadership contest that has just concluded, there might be an argument for keeping wallace in his job. he's well regarded. has a fair amount of credibility. he was just in washington meeting officials at the pentagon including lloyd austin. to the broader question, i think sunak's instinct would be to governor at a technocrat. he's low key. he's cerebral. he's well, well you know, he has a lot of experience in financial markets. he worked at goldman sachs and had hedge funds earlier in his life. so i think we'll see a more

buttoned down, low key style which might be a relief to people in britain after months of upheaval under johnson and truss. >> also, he's very wealthy. there was one headline, i don't know how you quantify this, saying he's the first prime minister who is wealthier than the royals. how can he be wealthier than the royals given the palace and jewels? >> the royals are very wealthy. that might not be easy to achieve. he is married to the daughter of one of the wealthiest technology entrepreneurs in india. she's probably worth at a minimum, hundreds of millions of dollars. that became a political problem for him last year when it became his wife had nondomicile tax status in the united kingdom. which means she wasn't paying

taxes in the uk on some of the income she earned on some holdings outside britain. she's now rectified that. but there was a period months ago that looked like that might derail sunak's political fortunes. he's come back twice. he came back from that scandal and came back from losing to liz truss just a month ago. >> it's amazing. and mark, your reporting on this has been incredible. molly, as always, number ten. again, we'll look for you as the days progress. thank you. and tensions are escalating on the korean peninsula after north and south korea exchanged warning shots at sea monday. a rare exchange, each accusing each other of violating maritime boundaries. the north testing a barrage of missiles in violation of u.n. resolutions after south korea engaged in joint military exercises with the u.s. and now

there are concerns kim jong-un may be preparing a nuclear test, which would be the first since 2017. janice is in beijing. the significance of these warning shots, how concerning is all of that to south korea and to the u.s.? >> well, it's part of the escalation that we've seen over several weeks with the barrage of north korean weapons testing. the latest where north korean officials were saying they were simulating using a tactical nuclear weapons to quote hit and wipe out south korean and u.s. targets. we've had over the past several weeks, both sides firing missiles. sending out their fighter jets. they've been buzzing the border and there are no lines of communication now, andrea, so there is this sense of tension that is building. add to that now there are joint military drills happening

between south korea and the u.s. that's always a flash point for north korea and of course, looming over everything is this expectation that kim jong-un will conduct another nuclear test. it will be a seventh test. the first since 2017. we've seen satellite imagery over the past couple of months showing construction at one of the key testing sites. the expectation now that this communist party here in china has finished that maybe he will plan to do that nuclear test sometime before midterms in the u.s. >> and in reference to china, of course there you are in beijing. these tensions boiling over to china when the u.s. can no longer rely on china to maybe put the brakes on north korea. over the weekend, president xi securing an historic third term, consolidating his power and in an extraordinary moment, you were there. we saw his predecessor being escorted out and clearly not

voluntarily. you can see the empty chair. let's take a look at this for a second. there you see him, he's being taken out and look at president xi's face, not even giving him much of a nod. what the heck was going on there? >> that is the golden question. you see the expression on some of the other key players, staring straight ahead. commentators are saying he looked like a piece of the furniture. representing a different era in chinese politics. one of collective rule, which is now effectively over now that xi has secured this third term in power. he's entering his second decade and there appears to be among the loyalists who are now in the leadership, no clear successor. so it could be that xi will rule for another decade. even longer. that moment very symbolic,

showing that era is over and the empty chair beside him, xi very much won-man rule. andrea? >> thank you very all of that. and subpoenaed. what the january 6th committee has planned for donald trump. if he agrees to testify. and what they'll do if he does not. you're watching "andrea mitchell reports" on msnbc. ing "andrea ml reports" on msnbc. (vo) get the new iphone 14 pro on us. right now t-mobile is including apple business essentials so you can easily manage your team's devices. on the network with more 5g coverage. only from t-mobile for business. when you're through with powering through, it's time for theraflu hot liquid medicine. powerful relief so you can restore and recover. theraflu hot beats cold. when dehydration gets real... hey! that's mine.

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police chief just gave an update on a deadly school shooting. kathy, what do you know? >> yeah, so this is certainly a heartbreaking day in the st. louis area. law enforcement just wrapped up a press conference. they're saying that the school shooting happened around 9:10 local time at central visual and performing arts school. this happened in a classroom on the third floor. we are told that all of the doors were locked. the school was closed but somehow the gunman was able to get in. we're still trying to get more information about the suspect and we know that the individual is dead.

this person in his 20s. we still don't have an id on this individual and we don't know the connection to the school, but we know eight people were transported to the hospital. one adult female pronounced dead and a teenage female also dead from gunfire as well. several people were injured. their injuries range from shrapnel injuries, gun shot wounds and also cardiac arrest. right now, they are telling folks this is still an active crime scene and we still don't know the identities of those deceased individuals right now. they're waiting to notify next of kin but obviously a very fluid situation. but once again, eight people transported to the hospital and two individuals pronounced dead. the suspect has also been pronounced dead as well, andrea. >> thank you very much. i know you'll get back to us as soon as you have any more information from that terrible information in st. louis.

thank you. and the january 6th committee is not ruling out taking live testimony from donald trump. after subpoenaing the former president to testify in november, but there's a big question about whether the former president will even just try to run out the clock as he has in the past with delays and delays and court challenges, hoping that republicans would retake the house and kill the investigation all together. committee vice chair and leading trump critic, liz cheney, laying out the committee's intentions for chuck todd on "meet the press." >> we are going to proceed in terms of the questioning of the former president under oath. it may take multiple days. and it will be done with a level of rigor and discipline and seriousness that it deserves. he's not going to turn this into a circus. this isn't going to be his first debate against joe biden and the circus and food fight that became. this is far too serious. >> joining me now are nbc news

senior garrett hague and chuck rosenberg, former u.s. attorney and senior fbi official. garrett, what is the likelihood donald trump would actually show up to testify? >> i think based on everything we know about his tenure in public life, it's low. trump as a private business man and a politician has had a countersuit of delay when faced with legal challenges like the committee here. however, we know he does like the spotlight. he responded immediately to the lawsuit on his new social media platform and with that 14-page letter. i think there's probably competing instints here for the former president to try to testify and make the show, if you will, or to stay out of further legal jeopardy by potentially having to testify under oath for as congresswoman chain pointed out, an extended period of time, which is risky for anyone, much less the former president.

so i think we're very much in wait and see mode although andrea, i was in vegas last week covering the senate race there. donald trump testifying before this committee is not a bet i would take right now. >> and chuck, to you, what cheney also laid out was basically what was written in the subpoena. she said there were multiple criminal offenses committed by trump. let's listen. >> we've been very clear about a number of different criminal offenses that are likely issued here. if the department of justice determined they have the evidence we believe is there and make a decision not to prosecute, i think that really calls into question whether or not we're a nation of laws. >> so, chuck, first of all, what do you think about the subpoena, the way it was structured? the facts they presented based on their investigation? and the impact of that? >> all right.

well, subpoena itself in the letter that accompanied it make a compelling case for why in a sane world, you'd want to hear from president trump, right? you want to establish the facts and get to the truth and you want to speak to all the people who have knowledge. but in the world in which we live, i don't think that person is donald trump. he's not well acquainted with the truth. i think garrett's point, and i agree with him. i wouldn't take a bet either that mr. trump would testify under oath or at all for matter, but if he did, what in the world makes us think he's going to do it truthfully? so if the goal is to get to the truth, if the goal is to elicit facts, what's the purpose in seeking his testimony because as i mentioned, that is not something he's well acquainted with. on the other hand, they also

want documents and there may be things in mr. trump's possession he can provide to the committee that aren't privileged and now required under law to be turned over that would further help the committee establish facts and get to the truth. but the notion of him testifying, if you take congresswoman cheney at her word and she doesn't want to turn this into a circus, my advice to her would be to keep the clowns at bay. >> continuing the metaphor. let me just ask you also about something that's just happened. not sure you've even had a chps chance to look at your computer, but the supreme court has stayed the order requiring lindsey graham to be questioned by a grand jury. this is about the fulton county investigation, of course. and now justice thomas has stayed that until the supreme court consider whether to block it for a longer term.

so, lindsey graham at least has an immediate delay in his having to testify. he had argued that his conversations about the election were in, were part of his duty as a senator rather than something that should subject him to questioning. >> right. so i think what senator graham was referring to was article one section six of the constitution which contains the speech or debate clause and it holds basically, andrea, as i know you know, that members of the house and senate can't be questioned in other places. meaning in the courts, essentially, for issues related to their legislative work. now, the federal district court judge who looked at this issue i think got it right. but that judge said was that there are certain things that senator graham could testify about because they were in no way related to his legislative

work and there are some things that fell within the speech and debate clause immunity. now, if justice thomas has stayed this temporarily so the entire supreme court can consider whether or not to consider it, we shall see. to be determined. for now, it looks like it will be delayed further. >> what he wrote literally was hereby stay pending further order of the undersigned, which is justice thomas or the court. so it will depend on whether the court, his colleagues intervene, take it up, then rule it either way, or whether they just leave it to him to block it. am i correct? >> that's what it sounds like. i'm going to take a look at the order as soon as we're done today and i hope have a better answer for you next time. >> okay. i'm not a lawyer, don't even play one on television so i will defer to you on all things legal. chuck and garrett. thanks to both. and making her case.

brittney griner preparing to appeal her guilty verdict. what is her state of mind ahead of tomorrow's big court date in russia? her attorney joining me next on "andrea mitchell reports" on msnbc. joining me next on "andrea mitchell reports" on msnbc. and ask your doctor about biktarvy. biktarvy is a complete, one-pill, once-a-day treatment used for h-i-v in certain adults. it's not a cure, but with one small pill, biktarvy fights h-i-v to help you get to and stay undetectable. that's when the amount of virus is so low it cannot be measured by a lab test. research shows people who take h-i-v treatment every day and get to and stay undetectable can no longer transmit h-i-v through sex. serious side effects can occur, including kidney problems and kidney failure. rare, life-threatening side effects include a buildup of lactic acid and liver problems. do not take biktarvy if you take dofetilide or rifampin. tell your doctor about all the medicines and supplements you take, if you are pregnant or breastfeeding, or if you have kidney or liver problems, including hepatitis. if you have hepatitis b, do not stop taking biktarvy without talking to your doctor. common side effects were diarrhea, nausea, and headache.

if you're living with hiv, keep loving who you are. and ask your doctor if biktarvy is right for you. brittney griner's court hearing is tomorrow at a moscow courthouse though it is not likely the appeal will overturn her conviction according to legal experts.

the wnba superstar was convicted in august and sentenced to a russian penal colony. last week, she celebrated her 32nd birthday behind bars, if celebrated can be used given the circumstances. joining me now is maria -- if that is correct. thank you very much. brittney griner's lawyer. one of her two russian lawyers. you saw her on her birthday. you brought her cards and good wishes from her family, photos. how is she doing physically and mentally after nine months in jail? >> well, brittney is strong. she's a fighter, a winner so this all helped her definitely. but she's tired, of course. she's tired. he hasn't seen the family and last week was quite challenging for her because on the one hand, it's her birthday and she's

getting all this support. she knows she's loved all over the world, but she was alone without the family. it was a sad day for her as well. >> i have told, i've been told by officials, u.s. officials, that embassy consular officials have not been able to see her since august. which was a very long time, indeed. how often are you able to see her? >> we see her often. me and my colleague, we see her twice a week. we try to visit her regularly. so it's fine. there's no problem with the access to her. >> i read that she has on her one hour outdoor recreation, that there is a basketball hoop, but no basketball? tell me about that. >> yes, that's the question everybody's keeping asking. whether she exercises, whether

she plays basketball. well, first, there's really no ball and brittney doesn't really want to play basketball now. i think it's probably psychologically too difficult for her. >> what kind of physical condition is she in? >> well, you know, it's a jail. so all the tools are quite limited, but she goes for a walk so she meet with us regularly. so she's like you know, she does some exercise. so she's fine, i would say. considering the circumstances, she's doing fine. >> have you heard anything at all about the possibility of a prisoner exchange actually taking place because as far as we can tell from here in the u.s. and at the state department, it seems to be frozen. that there's no serious

counteroffer. >> well, we just follow the news. we are not involved in any kind of negotiations about exchange, so we know just, you know, the same amount of information that you do. we just, you know, the new, we try to follow that based on this, but nothing, nothing new. so, that's just general information. >> and from the appeal itself, is there any chance that they would overturn the verdict because it seemed as though the court was not listening to your very well reasoned arguments. seemed to be what we would call, you know, a done deal. they had decided before they even heard the legal case. would they now reverse themselves? >> well, they can do this under the law. they have this option. it's one of the options.

the court can either overrule the verdict or return it back to the court or reduce the number of the years. so we will see what will happen tomorrow, but i think brittney herself is quite pessimist about the outcome, i would say. >> pessimistic and getting any reduction in sentence? >> she hope there will be some reduction. but not that the verdict will be overruled. >> and let's say hypothetically that the verdict remains. would she then quickly be moved to a penal colony or some even harsher detention facility further from moscow? >> no, that doesn't happen. it takes some time and let's wait until tomorrow because

honestly, let's see what happens tomorrow then we'll think what will happen next to her. of course we'll think about this and we all care about her. >> well, so do americans throughout. i mean, the support for her is overwhelming back home. i know you're communicating that to her as well. thank you very much for being with us today and good luck tomorrow in court. >> thank you, andrea. thank you. bye. >> bye bye. and the final push. early voting kicking off in two states with high profile races for governor. we'll take you to florida and texas, next. this is "andrea mitchell reports" on msnbc. s "andrea mitl reports" on msnbc. clumping litter. salmon paté? we have enough to splurge on catnip toys! i feel so accomplished. pet me please! great prices. happy pets. chewy. i have moderate to severe plaque psoriasis. now, there's skyrizi. with skyrizi, 3 out of 4 people

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designed to help you keep more of what you earn. this is the planning effect. early voting kicks off in florida and texas today with critical governor's races in both states favoring renin couple bentz. tonight incumbent republican governor ropb ron desantis will face off with charlestonry list cyst. in texas beto o'rourke in his third campaign trying to unseat hardline governor greg abbott. joining me is ali vitale in fort pearce, florida, and priscilla thompson in katy, texas, a

houston suburb. a lot of exposure, raising money, trying to help people. what do we expect from the debate tonight? >> look, that's one of the issues, andrea, that is going to come up. the only reason it is coming up tonight and not several weeks ago is because of hurricane ian. parts of the state still rebuilding from that. but the governor's approval rating strong, especially in the new poll you just mentioned from telemundo showing he has a pretty good approval rating going into this election cycle where the polling does show he has a sustained lead ahead of congressman charlie crist, who was at one time a republican governor in the state, now trying to unseat desantis. you look at the polling trends and the way desantis is running, he has a huge money advantage. when i talk to voters on the ground, it's unclear they are not tuned into this debate in

particular, but they are very aware of the politics of the state and of their governor. this is what one republican voter said was important to him going forward. tack a listen. take a listen. >> america is in a mess. and we have the greatest governor in the whole country. >> so you're a desantis fan. >> it's an issue. i'm looking for a red tsunami. i'm certainly hoping for one. i guess time will tell. >> andrea, the voter doing the tease for us. time will tell whether or not there is the red wave that some republicans feel optimistic about or whether or not democrats will be able to maintain the house and the senate. look, here in florida in the governor's race, this is something we are looking at from a national level as a potential springboard for desantis if you

were to run in 2024. that would bring him directly in contest most likely with former president donald trump with whom he owes a lot of success in 2018. desantis was boosted throughout that gubernatorial. for me, someone who covered that race and this one, the key difference is the way that desantis is defining himself. defining himself as his own person, own politician. it was squarely in line with trump. andrea. >> thanks very much to you, ali vitale and priscilla thompson in katy, texas. what are voters telling you? they have had the terrible shootings, uvalde, schools and education and curriculum as well as not just guns as well as of course the abortion laws. >> well, andrea, voters on both sides, whether they're supporting abbott or beto o'rourke, are very passionate about this race. i'll start with what i'm hearing of supporters of governor

abbott, acknowledgment that he has made his takes. they feel he could have handled the electrical grids better, the shooting in uvalde better. the issues that are bringing them out to the polls are the economy. it is immigration. and it is crime. these issues texans have had to bear. on the other side of this, you have supporters of beto o'rourke, who is looking to unseat abbott here. they are talking about abortion and immigration. i spoke to one voter here who said those issues feel very personal to her. and particularly the way governor abbott has handled them feel very personal to her. take a listen to some of what

she shared. >> many of the decisions that he's made impact the people who are permanent to me. and then the decisions he's making now, especially with the abortion rights. things he has done with immigration. we need immigration reform. putting people on buses and taking them to places, to me that was inhumane as well. i don't like a lot of things he's done. it seems more personal. >> reporter: he has to bear some responsibility in the economic issueseer in texas. so that voter told me they were voting for beto on the economy. because they feel like governor abbott has had an opportunity, and he has not done what they would like to see done on that issue. but one other thing that i have been struck by is both governor abbott and beto were on the

ballot in 2018. andrea. >> thanks to both of you. two hospital races. that does it for this edition of "andrea mitchell reports". thanks for being with us. follow the show online on facebook and on twitter at mitchell reports. chris jansing will be here right after these messages. include te

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